To ask the Minister of Education when the current priority criterion for socially disadvantaged children applying for pre-school will be reviewed.

Pre-school education, whilst non-compulsory, is an important phase of early education.

If a pre-school setting, either statutory or non-statutory, is over-subscribed, it will apply the published admissions criteria in order of priority.

The pre-school education providers set the admissions criteria. However, as research has shown that children from socially disadvantaged circumstances tend to experience more difficulty at school than other children, the Department requires that they are given priority within the pre-school admissions process as part of wider efforts to tackle educational underachievement.

Given changes to qualifying benefits with the introduction of Universal Credit, I plan to review the priority criterion, and will consider a range of issues in determining what changes are required. Any proposed changes will be subject to consultation.